Before The Snow Ball
by LoserParty
Summary: Set directly after eleven closes the gate (s2). Mileven, mike and eleven, lumax, Lucas and max
1. Chapter 1

Mike's POV

The head lights on Max's brothers car finally dimmed down. I dropped my hands from my face slowly.

"What the hell" Steve said

"Did she do it? Is it over?" Lucas wondered

"We should go check, make sure everything went right" I suggested. We rushed to the car.

"Hold on" Steve stopped us "this time I'm driving"

We got in the car, max sat in the front, Dustin and Lucas sat next to me in the back.

"Where did they go again?" Steve asked

"The lab" Dustin answered

Steve started the car and drove off. This drive was much smoother than the one on the way.

The ride was quiet until max spoke up. "What if el failed? What if those dogs got them?"

"Demodogs!" Dustin corrected

"Then we're walking into a death trap" Steve hesitated and started to slow down

"No, we have to keep going, if she's in trouble then we need to help her" I protested

"But I promised I'd keep you all safe and going there would mean a definite unsafe thing if they didn't kill it. I'm turning around" Steve argued

"No! El is one of us, if she's actually dead this time none of us will be able to forgive ourself knowing that maybe we could of done something" that shut everyone up.

Steve groaned "fine" then he sped up.

Finally we reached the lab, as soon as Steve stopped the car I got out. I stopped when I got to the path, it was silent. I started to head towards the door, there was movement from inside, I stopped, I could hear that the others were just behind me. The door opened and two people came out, I took a relieving breath out, she did it. Hopper came out followed by eleven. She stopped when she saw me, her face was covered in streaks of blood but her smile still stood out the most. We rushed into each others arms and hugged. "Your ok" I said over her shoulder

"I promised didnt I?" She said over mine

"Come on kid let's go check on Joyce" hopper said "you should probably go take them home" he then said to Steve

"Yeah alright" Steve answered

"Wait, what about billy, he's still at will's house" max said

"Who?" Hopper asked

"My brother attacked us but we knocked him out"

"Ok change of plans, Harrington, you take el to where Joyce is and I'll drop them off and take care of the brother" hopper said

"Wait, I'm going with el" I told him

"Fine, the rest of you come with me" hopper turned to Lucas, Dustin and max. Before they left hopper talked to Steve about where to go

"Cya mike, Bye el" Dustin waved

"Cya" I said and el waved as they drove past

"Alright dipshit and girl, let's go" eleven and I got into the back of the car and Steve drove off. The ride was quiet, el held my hand and leaned her head on my shoulder, almost falling asleep. After stopping a beast from another dimension shell probably sleep for days. I rested my head on hers and closed my eyes

"If you fall asleep i ain't waking you" Steve said.

"Just get Nancy to do it" I responded with my eyes still closed. I hadn't had a good sleep since Halloween.

Steve's POV

'Shit they fell asleep' I thought. From the way that the chief told me I should be there any minute now. I looked closer and could see lights, once I got near Mrs Byers car, I parked and looked behind me. 'I didn't know wheeler would be the the guy to get the girl'. I got out of the car and knocked on the door.

The door unlocked then opened, Nancy was standing there.

"Oh my god" she held a hand up to my face "what happened are you ok?"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. Um, billy came over and tried to hurt the shits so..."

She took her hand away from my face. "Damn good babysitter" she teased

"Oh, your brother is in the car, asleep with the girl. He said for you to wake him up" I told her

"Of course he did, you go inside I'll get them" Nancy walked past me. I went inside.

Mike's POV

My eyes opened, I was still in the car leaning my head on el's and holding her hand.

"Mike" said a harsh whisper "mike" then again

I looked to my right and saw Nancy standing out the door of the car. "Come on, will's inside" I was still half asleep so I only registered half of what Nancy said. "Do I need to unbuckle you? Maybe carry you inside?" She said

"No just give me a minute, jeez"

"I'll be inside" she walked away

"El, El wake up, we're here" her eyes opened, she lifted her head off my shoulder

"It would of been nice to keep sleeping" she said

I chuckled "Yeah, except Will is inside and he's awake I think"

"Let's go then"

We got out of Billy's car and went inside. On the bed, sitting up were Mrs Byers, Jonathan and will. Nancy was cleaning up Steve's bloody face in the kitchen.

"Will!" I went over to him "how are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess" he answered. El came up next to me "will, this is eleven" I introduced

"Thank you" he said to her, she smiled back.

Max's POV

We had picked up billy from the Byers house, dropped off Dustin, then Lucas. The chief was now driving up the road I live on. I looked to billy in the back, still knocked out. We parked outside my house. "All right kid I'll get him and you go to your parents" he said.

"Ok" I hopped out of the truck, went to the door and knocked. There was an answer, it was my Mom. "Oh my god max!" She hugged me "where have you been?"

"I'm fine, I just went to the arcade" I lied

She then saw the chiefs car and him bringing out billy "what happened to him?!" She went over to him. "Neil!" She called for my step dad

He came out. "What the hell happened?" He asked the chief. "I was walking home, and he found me right before some junkies attacked us and he was knocked out then the chief found us" I told them.

"Where's his car?" My step dad asked

"The guys drove off with it, I'll find it though" hopper answered

"Thank you" mom said. He gave billy to Neil, got in his car and drove off.

We went inside, I went to my room and my mom followed "So billy protected you?"

"Yes, mom" I told her.

As much as I hated my brother I didn't want him to face the wrath of my step dad. Even he didn't deserve that. I put my pjs on and got in my bed. It had been a long day and finally I could sleep.

Eleven's POV

I had gone to have a shower, so I could get the makeup and blood off my face. Mike, will, Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy and Steve were still sitting on the lounge and bed. Mike had officially introduced me to Will, will seemed grateful for what I had done for him but the truth is, if I never opened the gate then will never would have been taken by the demogorgan in the first place. It was all my fault.

I got out of the shower, put jeans and a flannel top on then went back out. My hair was still wet so it looked darker and longer than it really was. I saw that Steve had left and the Byers and Nancy were ready to leave.

"Hey hunny, do you want us to stay here until hopper comes back?" Mrs Byers offered

"No, that's ok" I told her.

"Are you sure?" She asked again. I nodded "Alright, Nancy, mike we'll take you home"

"Sounds good Mrs Byers" Nancy smiled

"Uh, I'll stay here, for a while" mike interrupted

Mrs Byers nodded then headed out the door with Jonathan and Nancy in tail. "Bye mike, Bye eleven" will gave a small wave. We waved back.

I looked around, everything had been moved everywhere. "So why did you come back looking like a punk?" Mike wondered

"I went to see my sister" I told him

"You have a sister?"

"She's not my real sister though. And she kills the bad men"

"Kills them?" He repeated, I nodded "and they dressed you up like that" I nodded again

"I also found my mother"

"Really? Is she here in Hawkins?"

"No, I don't think so" this time he nodded.

"Do you need help moving everything back?" He asked

"Yes, please"

We started with the bed, we half picked it up and and dragged it back to my room. Then we packed away the heaters and piled them outside, next to the steps. Mike picked up a bed side table, that had been used to stand a heater near the bed and placed it down near the lounge.

"Do you know how to fix the tv?" I pointed to it

He took a look, plugged a cord back in, placed the thing with antennas on the top and turned it on. He brushed his hands of. I smiled. We sat down on the lounge.

Lights appeared out the windows and a car pulled up.

"Hopper must be back" mike said

A car door shut and the front door opened.

"I see everyone left already" he said. Then he saw mike. "Oh, mike's still here. Are you staying the night?"

"Um, yeah I guess" mike shrugged

"So is this going to be...a thing now?" Hopper asked me

"No, It's just one night. We haven't seen each other in almost 400 days-" mike started

"Just this once" I interrupted

"Okay, you can sleep on the lounge kid" hopper told mike.

"I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day" he admitted. He went into his small room and closed the door.

"You pick up that end, I'll pick up the other" I whispered to mike and pointed to the ends of the lounge. It was a thin lounge so it would defiantly fit through the door to my room. He got the idea and nodded. We got up and picked up the ends of the couch and steered it into my room. We put it down next to my bed. I went back to the lounge room, grabbed a pile of blankets from a cabinet and went back into my room. I closed the door and gave him 2 blankets. The other two I put on my bed.

He sat down on the couch and I sat on the bed directly across from him.

"So, tell me what happened when you were here" mike said.

I told him all that had happened from the upside down to the big city. He also told me what had happened while I was gone. At some point he drifted off into sleep curled up on the lounge with both blankets on top. I also was curled up in blankets laying in my bed.

'Maybe one day, I should go back to aunt Becky and apologise, I'm sure hopper would drive me there' I thought. I felt bad about taking her money, but if the bad men found her with me they'd kill both her and mama. 'She'll understand won't she?'

My eyes started to become heavy and it was hard to keep them open. So I decided to just let them close and guide me into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Hoppers POV

When I woke up I got out of bed and groggily walked into the kitchen. When I passed the lounge area I realised the couch was gone.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on me, they defiantly were not.

I went to El's room, twisted the door knob and opened the door slightly. The couch was in there and mike was sleeping there wrapped up in a blanket, El too, was in her bed still fast asleep.

It was Monday so I had to go to work, I'd get ready then wake El up to tell her, or I'd leave a note.

Once I was dressed I decided to leave a note, I grabbed a spare piece of paper and wrote down

Going to work be back by 5.15, same rules still apply.

I placed it on the small table we use for eating on. Then I walked out the door, closed it then trotted off to my car.

Dustin's POV

I woke up with a yawn. My mom had still not found mews so when I got up she was still frantic and sad. Of course I knew what happened to mews but I couldn't tell her!

I trudged down the hall way, my mom was sitting in her chair gnawing at her nails.

"Anything on mews yet?" I asked her

"No, do you think she maybe got lost?" She said. I felt bad, I wanted to tell her, but I knew I couldn't. I went back to my room, got dressed then tried to sneak out.

"Where are you going so early? You haven't even had breakfast" she kindly said

"I'm uh, going to Mike's. I'll look out for mews" I said walking out the door.

I grabbed my bike and started peddling off to Mike's house. On the way a car rolled up beside me. The window unwinded, Steve was in the drivers seat.

"Hey, need a lift?" He asked. I stopped, then he stopped.

"Yeah, Alright" I placed my bike in the boot and then got in the front seat next to him.

"So kid where you off to?"

"I was going to go to Mike's then try find Where el is" I told him. He started the car.

"Well that won't happen" he plainly said

"Why?"

"Cause mike is where the girl is I'm pretty sure he stayed the night. Did you want me to pick up anyone?"

"I'll ask" I turned on the microphone set attached to the side of my head. "Does anyone copy? Steves taking me to where mike and el are, anyone want to come. Does anyone copy?" I waited for a response.

Then someone answered "Yeah alright" said Lucas from the microphone.

"Guess we're just picking up Lucas." I told Steve.

I directed him to Lucas' house, Steve beeped the horn and Lucas came rushing out and got in the back of the car.

"So are you Like our driver now?" Lucas said

"No, he's not, he just knows where mike and eleven are" I told him. We went down roads I had never seen before.

"Are you sure this is the way?" I asked Steve

"I'm sure"

Mike's POV

My eyes fluttered open to bright daylight. I instantly looked to eleven, she had her back to me, the blankets outlined her shape. I could see that she was curled up, I couldn't blame her it was cold in here. El's legs stretched out then she turned to face me. Her eyes opened.

"morning" I said to her

"Morning" She said back. She sat up then smiled at me. "Did I tell you my real name?"

"Your real name isn't eleven?" At this point I'm so confused.

"It's Jane" she told me.

"That's a pretty name, it suits you"

"Pretty" she blushed.

"Should I call you Jane now?" I asked her

She shrugged "I like El"

"Ok" I smiled.

"Ok" she repeated.

"Can I see they box you told me about last night?" I suggested. She nodded her head. El then got out of her bed, I followed and went into the area where the lounge should be. She went over to the small table and picked up a pice of paper. It was from hopper. She sighed angrily "same rules still apply" she read aloud

"Same rules, meaning no going outside and all?" I asked. El nodded her head slowly. "At least your not alone"

Her smile brightened up "true"

She placed the paper down and went over to a spot in the room and sat down. I went over and sat across from her. El took a floor bored out and underneath was a small hidden compartment with boxes full of sheets and photos. "Woah" I raised my eyebrows.

She pulled out a box titled Hawkins lab. Then she opened it and took out a red file called Ives, Terry.

"Is that your mom?" I asked

"Yes" she simply responded

I looked through all the papers in the file and read it all. Just as I was finishing there was a knock at the door. Els eyebrows creased.

There was a shout from outside "eleven? Mike? It's just us, Dustin and Lucas!" Dustin said. She tilted her head slightly and the door unlocked then opened. They came inside.

"How did you guys know where we were?" Was the first thing I said to them.

"Steve" Dustin simply answered

"What's that?" Lucas asked, gesturing to the papers in my hand.

"El's backstory basically" I responded

"You have a backstory! Is it like the x-men?" Dustin said

"What is x-men?" El asked him

"Oh, their basically a series of comic books with cool superheroes" Dustin told her.

"Forget about the x-men! Can I see?" Lucas asked. El nodded her head. I handed him the files.

"Who's Ives terry?" He asked reading the front cover

"Just read" I said to Lucas. He scowled.

Dustin eagerly looked over lucas' shoulder to the papers.

Lucas opened the file to a random page, that just so happened to be the page about how el was taken.

"Daughter Jane taken when she was a baby. Daughter, Jane. Your her daughter, your Jane. Aren't you" Lucas figured out

"Your name is Jane!" Dustin said, surprised. El nodded her head. "All this time we called you eleven" Dustin giggled. "You have no idea how much we missed you" he then said

"She does" I said. I looked at her, she was she was half smiling, half frowning.

Will's POV

I got out of bed, walked down the hall, looked at the clock and... what! It's already 1.30!

Mom and jonathan were in the kitchen taking down the drawing of the vines.

"Hey bud" Jonathan said to me, still taking down a vine.

"Hey Good morning, how are you feeling" mom asked me

"Fine, I guess. Just feeling a bit empty" I admitted

"Do you want something to eat?" She said

"Yeah ok, did you need help with taking these down?" I wondered

"No, you just sit there, it's ok" mom told me

"You'll never get it done by the end of the day if it's just you two" I warned

"That's ok" Jonathan said

"Come on, I'm fine! I can help" I argued

They were both silent. "Just let me help" I said

"Aright, come on, you can do the bottom half of the kitchen I'll do the top" Jonathan agreed

"Jonathan" mom argued

"He wants to help, let him help. If he wants to sit down he can do that" Jonathan defended me. Mom sighed then started to take some ham out from the fridge. I looked at Jonathan and grinned, he gave a small smile back.

I started to take down the drawings on the bottom half of the kitchen, without ripping the wallpaper.

Just before we finished the kitchen mom finished cooking some ham and eggs for us, we sat down to eat them then got back to work. Once mom started to help it got quicker, we moved onto the lounge room in no time, then to the halls, then to the bedrooms. By 4.30 we finished the whole house.

"Ok, let's go sit down and rest" Jonathan sighed

When we sat down my mind wondered off to the party, I wonder what they did today.

"You ok will?" Mom snapped me out of my daze.

"Huh, oh, yeah I'm fine"

Elevens POV

When Steve came to pick the boys up, Dustin introduced me to him.

"El, this is Steve, steve, el" Dustin said.

He gave a small wave and a nod I smiled back.

"Alright, come on I need to get you little shits home" Steve said while ruffling Dustin's hair.

"Bye El" Lucas said

"Cya" Dustin walked out the door.

Mike turned to me. "I'll come visit you soon, I promise"

"Okay" I hugged him, he hugged me tightly back.

"Come on wheeler!" Steve shouted from outside. He left and closed the door behind him. I locked it, but not with my mind. I used my hands and looked out the window as they left.

It was nice that now he knew I was still alive. Hopefully hopper will let me leave soon. Even though he always says soon. I sat down on the lounge, which we had moved back from my room, and closed my eyes.

Not long after hopper came home and as usual did the secret knock. I opened the door without moving, he entered.

"Hey kid" he said

"Hi" I responded. He came and sat next to me.

"I've got some good news and bad news, what do you want to hear first?"

I creased my eyebrows "bad" I said unsurely

"You still have a little while till things cool off before you can go out" he frowned

"Whats the good news?" I asked

"First good news is, I will allow mike to come over every now and then, just to keep you company. The second thing is, I have a plan for you to be able to go out into the world"

My eye brows creases even more now "plan?"

"Maybe, if you want, I could adopt you then you wouldn't have to be a secret anymore" he introduced the plan

"Adopt?"

"Like when you go into a new family. How would that sound?"

I nodded "I like that plan"


	3. Chapter 3

Mike's POV

"Mike! Hurry up or you'll be late for school!" My mom shouted from the kitchen

"I'm coming!" I shouted back from my room. I ended up waking up late, I just couldn't sleep. All I could think about is how Els back and now that she is back what will happen.

I ran down the stairs skipping a few. I grabbed my bag opened the door, screamed "Bye mom!" And left. I rode down the street on my bike trying to beat the bell.

I reached school as everybody was going into class. I parked my bike and rushed inside. I passed Dustin in the hall "Jesus where the hell were you?" He followed me to my locker.

"I uh slept in" I told him. "Is will here today?"

"Yeah"

We walked into mr Clark's class and sat down in our usual seats. The whole party was there and max, at the back.

"Ok class let's start today's lesson..."

When the hour was almost up Mr Clark got our attention "Everyone! I have been told to remind you all that the annual snowball is in a few weeks, so get your friends or dates ready" he said awkwardly. The bell went and we all flooded out of the classroom.

The day felt like it would never end, every class seemed like it went on for 3 hours. So when the home bell finally rung, I was up and ready to go, until Lucas stopped me. "Mike, wait up! Where are you going? We have AV today"

"Oh, I forgot about AV today. I um... I think I'll skip AV today" I hurried away. I was in a rush to see El. I could feel the three boy's eyes staring at me as a left the school and yeah, I did feel a little bad, but I'd feel worse if I just left el, knowing I could be there giving her compony. I grabbed my bike from the bike rack and hurried off.

It was a long 20 minute ride to the area that she's lives in. I was now walking near what could be called their front yard and realised that El and Hopper were both there getting into the chiefs car. El noticed me first.

"Mike!" She said and held a hand out as if telling me to stop. I crooked an eyebrow. Hopper came around the corner of the car "step over the trip wire kid" he said while pointing down. I looked down and saw my foot close to a wire running from on tree to another, I stepped over it then went to el and hugged her, she welcomed the embrace and hugged me back.

"Whats wrong? Why are you here" She asked.

"I just wanted to come give you compony" I admitted "where are you going?"

"To see mamma" she told me. El turned to hopper "can he come?"

"Yeah, whatever you want kiddo" he said and ruffled her curly hair.

"Did you want to come?" She asked

"Sure" I accepted the offer. We got into the back of the truck. I brought my bike with too and placed it in the back. El and I sat out of sight in the back of the chief's car, he said we couldn't risk anyone seeing El. So we sat in the back, leaning against the backs of the front seats. The ride wasn't bumpy but since we had no seat belts and we were surrounded by space we'd end up sliding or moving along every now and then.

"I thought you said your mom...wasn't thinking right" I brought up

"I can see mamma, but I need to apologise to aunt Becky...I stole her money to get to kali" she said a little ashamed.

"I can't believe there is someone else like you but Kali, she seems more vicious" I said and El nodded in response. The truck stopped and hopper turned the engine off, he leaned over the seats "we're here"

We got out of the car to a house surrounded by trees and bush land. We walked up to the porch. El stepped forward to the door and knocked. After a few seconds there was an answer "who is it?"

"Jane" she answered. The door immediately unlocked and opened.

"Where did you go!?" A women with curly brown hair said. I quickly realised this must be Becky

"Hey, do you remember me?" Hopper asked the lady.

"Your the police officer and who's this?" She gestured to me.

"That is El's...more than a friend" the chief answered.

"I'm mike" I introduced my myself.

She stood to the side and let us in. We went to the kitchen and down around a round table. I sat next to El and hopper.

"Start explaining Jane, where did you go?"

"I found the girl"

"In...the rainbow room?"

"Yes... she, wasn't good" El told her the story and bout how she had to go back to Hawkins and stop the monster.

"Sounds like some messed up stuff" Els ain't said as she blew out smoke from the cigaret in her hand.

"Can I go see her?" El asked

"Go ahead" Becky told her. El nodded at me to come follow, so I did. We went into the lounge room where her mother was in a rocking chair, slightly moving her lips, but saying nothing.

"Mamma, it's Jane...I'm here" she kneeled down next to her mom. I stood next to el and placed my hand on her shoulder. Her mom looked at her but at the same time she didn't, it was as if she was looking straight through her.

After a little while we ended up having to leave. El and Becky shared a hug then we got into the car and was on our way back. El and I still sat in the back, sliding here and there.

All of a sudden I remembered what mr Clark said before we left class, about the snowball being in a couple of weeks.

"Hey El... do you remember what I said to you, about the snow ball?" I stared the conversation

"Yes"

"Well, this years snow ball is soon and I was thinking, now that your back...maybe we could, go together"

She had started to grow a smile as she answered with the simple words she had said so many times before "yes" but this 'yes' was special.

Kali's POV

After Jane fled we managed to get through one town before we were stopped and arrested. I was in one mans car, handcuffs on and alone. The others had been put together in two seperate cars that we followed. As I travelled in the police car there was nothing I could do, my emotions got in the way. Like before, my mind was clouded with sadness but it was covered in rage. At one point I tried to get the man to stop by making him see something in the middle of the road, but nothing effected him, meaning nothing happened.

I blame Jane. Because of her I cannot seek my revenge on those who terrorised me. Because of her my friends and I are trapped.

We rocked up at an extremely secure police station with three seperate buildings and two rows of fences. I would have to concentrate hard to get us all out of here alive. The car parked and we all got out with our hands on our heads, the police lead my four friends to a building on the right, I started to follow them until I was pulled away and re directed to the last building on the left. I tried to look back but could no longer see them.

'If I didn't know where they were how was I supposed to break them out?' I thought to myself.

They gave me a change of orange prison clothes and left me to my cell which was surrounded by concrete walls and one door. There was a bed, sink and toilet and that was it. I had to get out of here. Once I focus I can reach my powers, so I sat down on the bed and cleared my mind. It took a while but I got it eventually. I reached into the guards mind and made him hear an explosion from my cell. I made him see a hole in the wall, I made myself invisible to the eye and mind. He looked out the hole as I made my way out the door simply. More guards rushed passed me.

Once I was out of the building I realised it was night, there were sirens going off and people shouting. I tried to think of what building they would of taken my gang. I thought so hard I ended up stopping myself from being invisible.

"There She is!" Someone yelled. The light that shone on me snapped me back and I was back to being unseen. "Where'd she go?" A different man yelled.

As I was running out of the facility I realised I would not be getting my friends out of there soon. And it was all. Her. Fault.

Mike's POV

They dropped me off just down the road from my house, I walked up the street bike in hand. Once I got inside my mom came straight to me at the door. "Where were you?" She asked

"I- the 4 of us guys went to the arcade after AV" I lied.

"You didn't think to call and let me know?"

"Im sorry ok" I said pitifully as I walked up the stairs.

I got to my room and sat down on my bed. Just then Nancy entered, she gently closed the door behind her. "Now, I know you weren't at the arcade, since I saw them all come back to Lucas's house with out you...so where were you?" She said quiet enough that our parents wouldn't hear. I hesitated, she came and sat down next to me on my bed. "Mike" she pushed.

"I was with Hopper and El" I looked away "please don't tell mom or dad" I begged

"I'm not going to, I was just curious"

There was a moments silence "Are you glad elevens back?"

"Her name isn't eleven" I told Nancy. She looked confused "I mean, we still call her El but not eleven, since her real name is Jane"

"Jane" she said, surprised. I nodded.

"Look mike, I know last time I said it we both ignored it but I still want no more secrets between each other, can we try that again?" She asked

"Alright" I responded

"Ok, good" she got up and walked out, closing the door behind her.

El's POV

"So, mike asked me if I could go to the snow ball with him" I brought up the subject as we ate dinner at the small table.

"Mhmm" hopper hummed

"Can I go?"

"We'll see"

"Please" I begged, he looked up to my eyes and sighed "Alright. But if I see that anything is to risky, then I'm calling it off" he said

After that I smiled as I ate dinner and for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Normal POV

Tonight is the big night. Tonight is the night of the snow Ball, everything was going fine so far, all the party members were getting ready. Max had finally been accepted into the party and her and el were starting to get along. Mike tried his hardest to look impressive so he'd look good in front of el, though he was still worried, hopper had talked to him and told him that if something happened that day El would not be able to come because it would be to risky. Dustin went and bought hair products so he could look like Steve and Lucas was nervous, he was going to ask max to dance tonight, he just wasn't sure how. As for max her mother was doing her hair, billy walked passed and she gave him a stare, since billy knew that max defended him that night he stoped being rude to her, he stopped talking to her. Her parents got her a bike so billy didn't have to drive her but she still missed the thrill of her skateboard. Will, at this point was getting dancing lessons from Joyce and Jonathan was documenting. Eleven had done her own makeup, with the inspiration from her bitchin look. Hopper bought her a dress, she thought it was very pretty. Hopper had officially adopted her and they were happy in their little cabin home.

Mike's POV

Before I left my mom stopped me at the stairs, to take photos.

"Ok that's enough now" I said wanting to just leave

"You look so handsome" she teased

"Mom" I said in annoyance

"Miiike" she responded "oh and when you come back here after with everyone I want to meet eleven"

"We don't call her eleven anymore, her names Jane" I told her

"Ok, so do I call her Jane?" She asked

"I guess" I shrugged and walked passed her. I got in dads car, Nancy then got into the drivers seat, Nancy was driving me to the snow ball since she was helping out. When we got there she parked and we headed to the entrance. Will, Max and Lucas were already there waiting out front.

"Have fun" Nancy said to me before going inside to start helping.

I looked inside, there were plenty of kids inside already dancing and talking.

"Hey Mike" Will gave a small wave

"Hey, Where's Dustin?" I asked

"He's just running late" Lucas answered

"Can we go inside already? It's freezing out here" Max complained while crossing her arms

"Let's go then" Lucas lead the way.

We went inside and found a table that was free and sat down. Not long after, Dustin showed up with a crazy hair style.

Kali's POV

For weeks I have been stalking the streets, stealing food, clothes anything I could use. Now, I'm standing in front of a sign saying 'welcome to Hawkins!'

Tonight I would find Jane. And I will start my revenge. I reflected on the long days of just sitting around thinking how it's all her fault. We had a good stable thing going... until she came. Revenge always got the better of me. I started to walk into Hawkins, nearing the lights of the town.

Dustin's POV

I danced with Nancy. I realised how tall I had gotten standing across from her. As we danced be bopped our heads to the beat and smiled. It was nice that Nancy was dancing with me. I looked over her shoulder and saw a late arrival.

Lucas's POV

I finally asked max to dance. When I did ask her my heart was beating so fast, I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest, then when she said yes and took my hand... I was shocked. Sorta.

We danced to a slowish song, her smile made me smile. Then I noticed will and a girl named Charlotte dancing. They had a few classes together and she was very out going and expressive. Maybe that's what Will needed.

I saw that Dustin was dancing with Nancy and that mike was alone. Then he stood up and looked with awe at the girl walking through the doors.

Mike's POV

When I saw her, I had no words. She looked around, saw me and smiled. We walked to each other and met in the middle.

"Y-you look beautiful" I told her. She blushed and smiled. I looked out the the crowd now dancing to a song called every breath you take. "Do you want to dance?" I asked nervously

"I... don't know how" she responded

"I don't either... do you wanna figure it out?"

She grinned and nodded her head. I took her hand and leaded her out to the dance floor. We stood across from each other, "I think, like this" I took her hands and placed them on my shoulders, she adjusted her hands to go around my neck. I placed my hands on her waist "yeah, like that"

We both started to sway to the music.

At this point neither of us could hold in our smiles. As we kept dancing we looked at each other never breaking eye contact. Finally we both leaned closer and kissed for the second time. When our lips broke apart we resembled each other's smiles. She leaned her head on mine and continued swaying. When the song was over, a more up beat one was played, so we went and sat down at the same table as before.

"Hey El! You look great" Dustin came over with a big smile.

"Thank you" she responded. Next to come back was Max and Lucas followed by Will who came back from saying bye to the girl who asked to dance with him.

After a while of talking and laughing Will spoke up and said "Hey guys, my brother is doing the photos, did you wanna go get some taken?"

"Yeah!" Dustin stood up. We walked over to the area, there was no line up so we got to photo done right away. We did a group one first, then el and I got one done.

After another few hours the Snow Ball was ending. Kids were being picked up and the music had stopped. Because Nancy and Jonathan were volunteers they had to stay behind and help clean up, which also meant so did we. Nancy and Jonathan were all of our rides home. We sat on the long seats to the side of the school hall. El leaned her head on my shoulder as we watched everyone kick the balloons around and pop them.

After we helped clean a little we were heading home. Nancy drove el and I and Jonathan had a full car with Will, Dustin, Lucas and max.

"Did you have a good time el?" Nancy asked her

"Yes" she smiled.

"How about you mike?" Nancy then asked me

"I had a great time" I smiled to el, as we traveled holding hands.

Kali's POV

I walked in the shadows of the town looking around and seeing if Jane might be around. She wasn't. So I decided I'd walk along the path, that's when I saw her. She was in a car with two other people. I could make them crash right now if I wanted to... I did want to. But I'd wait for a better time, for now, I would follow them, then make my move.

I followed the car to a house not far from the town, I made myself invisible to their eyes, snuck around and went to a bush area behind the house. Another car rocked up and more kids got out, these must be the people Jane told me about. I watched them enter the house, soon I would start my revenge.

El's POV

We walked through the front door of mike's home. Mike's mom came up to us "how was the night?" She asked

"Good" mike, Dustin, will and Lucas said at the same time.

"Uh, mom this is el" Mike introduced me.

"Hi, I'm mike's mother, you can call me Karen" she held her hand out, I took it and we shook hands.

"So... can we go now?" Mike asked. His mom stepped out of the way and let us pass, we went down to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs I stopped and took it in, nothing had changed. I walked over to the fort built for me to sleep in, I ran my hand against the edges of the sheets and slightly smiled remembering those many months ago.

Mike and I sat on the lounge, leaning up against each other, Dustin and Will sat at the table and Max and Lucas sat on the floor with their backs against the lounge. We all talked and laughed pretending for one night, all was normal. Until Mike suddenly screamed and jumped to his feet while brushing his arms.

"Mike!" I stood up, so did the rest of the group. His breathing was fast, he was still brushing his arms and now looking like he was trying to get something out of his hair.

"What's going on!" Max said, worried

"The spiders! They're everywhere!" He screamed.

"Spiders? What spiders?" Will wondered. We all stood around not knowing what to do.

Wait a minute. Spiders? This is exactly what happened to the man with the crazy hair style back with kali-

I looked to the window near the back door. I ran to it opened it and went outside. I saw someone running into the trees, a girl. I couldn't see who exactly but I had a good idea. Then I remembered mike.

I ran back inside and went to him, cupped my hands around his face so he would look at me, I then said in a strong voice "it's not real. The spiders aren't real. It's in your head... she's in your head!"

He gasped and stopped screaming and looked at me straight in my eyes. He then checked his arms

"What was that? What happened?" Dustin asked mike

"I... don't know. There was so many spiders all of a sudden, biting me, crawling all over me... then they all disappeared" he explained

"It was Kali" I told them

"Who?" Max crooked an eyebrow.

"She's like me... but she makes people see things. She...hurts the bad men" I explained.

"Why is she here?" Lucas asked

I told them the story about how I left her, right before the police could of got them. "Why'd she attack mike?" Will raised the question

I shrugged. Then looked at mike with sorrowful eyes.

Mike's POV

Jonathan came and picked up Will, Dustin and Max, he would then drop them home and Lucas walked home since it was two doors down. El was staying the night, none of the party members knew that though. El was still in her beautiful dress, looking down at the floor while sitting on the couch.

I still had a bit of the jitters from all the spiders but I knew I'd get over it.

"What if she's here to kill, mike?" El spoke up

I looked at her with a frown on my face. I stood up went to the fort and sat down to the left then pat the ground next to me indicating for her to come sit next to me. She did. She then linked her arm under mind and rested her head on my shoulder.

"If she's here to kill, then we'll stop her. Together this time" I gently told her.

"Ok" she responded.

I started to drift to sleep not trying to keep my eyes open. I fell asleep, with a beautiful girl leaning on me, in a forte under a table.


	5. Chapter 5

El's POV

At one point it felt like I was downing in an ocean, no where to go and nobody around. Then all of a sudden I was in the bathtub, where papa used to experiment me. Confined, dark, everything I now hated. I banged on the glass and screamed for them to let me out. The glass cracked and I flowed out with the water onto concrete. A man stood in-front of me, it was papa. "Well done eleven" he said trying to grab me. I backed away and screamed- "mike" I gasped as I woke up.

Mike was to my left looking at me, as If I frightened him "are you alright?"

I nodded "just a dream"

We herd russling of bushes outside. I quickly got up and checked out window.

"Was it Kali? Did she give you a nightmare?" Mike asked

"I... didn't see her" I told him. I looked down to my clothes and realised I was still wearing the snowball outfit. Mike noticed me "did you want to get changed?" He asked

I nodded. I grabbed the bag of clothes hopper left here then went into the bathroom and got changed. I herd mike go up the stairs and thought that he must be changing too. I slipped a pair of jeans on, a red and white top, washed my face and brushed my hair so it was almost back to being curly.

When I came out of the bathroom mike was back wearing black jeans and a stripy blue and white shirt.

"What are we gonna do today?" I asked him

"Did hopper say your aloud out?" Mike asked, I shrugged "we could go out anyway"

Mike smiled then laughed a little "did you wanna go see the arcade?"

"What's an... arcade?" I said in confusion

"It's a place where you meet with friends and play cool games"

I looked at him still a bit confused

"I'll just show you" he said making his way to the door.

We went up the stairs to outside and went to mike's bike. He smiled as I got on "just like old times" he said. I was a little unsure on that term but I had an idea of what it meant. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he started to peddle off.

We went through town and down many roads, I felt the wind on my face as I looked over mike's shoulder as we rode on the bike.

Mike's POV

We arrived at the arcade, we got of my bike and I parked it in the bike rack. I lead her inside. She looked around in awe. I took her hand "come" she willingly followed

I took her to pac man- one of the easiest games.

I put a quarter in the slot and the game begun. I showed her how to play then once my game was over she tried to play. She put her hands on the joystick and buttons then I placed my hands over hers so I could help direct her.

Once she had the hang of it I left her to play it.

"Your pretty good at this" I said as I watched. She took her eyes of the screen to look at me and the orange ghost ate her.

After that I showed her to other games like dig dug and dragons lair.

Kali's POV

I was wondering the woods when I herd the voice. It whispered my name but I saw nobody. It was the middle of the day but the canopy of the trees blocked most sunlight so that all there was were shadows.

When I turned around there was a dark cloud looking puff hovering across from me.

"Help me defeat the one with powers and open the gate and I will help you" the smoke looking thing whispered

"The one with powers, Jane? And gate what gate?" I questioned

"Yes, Jane" it said in a low gurgling voice. "And the gate which will bring my world into this, so that I may conquer"

"When you say defeat, what would I do to her?"

"Anything, as long as she does not get in my way" it replied

I smirked an evil grin. 'This could be my chance, this thing, is powerful. It can help me' I convinced myself.

"I'm in" I said. Not even a second later the cloud came rushing at me and went in me, through my mouth, nose and eyes. I felt it... everywhere.

Will's POV

I woke with a gasp. I could feel it... I could feel the shadow monster, still out there. It had left my body but it still had a connection on my mind. I could feel it inhabiting another's body, like what it did to me. The shadow monster would strike again. I need to tell the party. I should tell mom too. But I'll tell her after, she's been through enough.

I got up and changed and snuck into jonathan's room. He was awake and dressed looking at photos taken on his camera.

"Hey bud. Your up early" he said quietly

"Yeah. I uh... can you take me to the arcade?" I asked

"Yeah of course. Are the boys going to be there?"

"I'll make sure" I went back to my room and radioed the guys. "Guys... we need to talk"

"What about?" Lucas answered a second later

"Can you meet at the arcade?" I asked him

"Yeah, I can" Dustin replied.

Followed by "can max come?" From Lucas

"Whatever, just meet me there." I said, probably a bit to harshly

"I'll go see if mike can, then pick up max" Lucas said.

"See ya there in 15" Dustin radioed out.

I went back to Jonathan's room to tell him. He got the keys from a pair of pants thrown on the floor and left a not for mom saying 'taking will to the arcade'

We then left.

Lucas' POV

I left the house and walked my bike 2 houses down and knocked on mike's door. Mrs wheeler answered. "Lucas, what can I do for you?"

"Can you tell me if mike's home?" I asked

"No, he's not I saw him head out with el earlier this morning" she answered

"Do you know where they went?" She shook her head in return. "Alright. Thanks Mrs Wheeler" She smiled then closed the door and I turned around and got onto my bike and headed for Max's Place.

When I got there i saw that Billy's car was not there, meaning it must be safe for me. I left my bike on the lawn, went to the front door and knocked.

There was an answer. The door opened and Billy stood there staring down at me. I gulped.

"Maxine! You've got a visitor!" He yelled then left me with a confused expression. Max came and closed the door behind her. "What's wrong stalker?" She said playfully

"Will wants to meet at the arcade. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, lets go" she said walking towards my bike. I followed.

I looked back to the front door. "I didn't think billy was home" I admitted.

"Dad took his car for repairs" she explained.

"He was strangely... nicer than usual" I said getting on the bike.

"Ever since he found out I stood up for him, he's been... I wouldn't say nice but more so ignoring me but at the same time not ignoring me... if that makes sense" she got on my bike.

"Sorta" I replied. I started to ride down the street as max held my shoulders. It would be a long trip.

Mike's POV

El and I were versing each other in battle ships- I was going easy on her- when I saw Will come in. He looked worried and anxious. El noticed that I stopped and stopped too. I went over to Will and she followed.

"Will? What's wrong" I asked, walking up to him

"We need to talk. I called the rest of the guys, they're on their way" he said.

"Talk? About what?" I questioned

"The shadow monster, I think it still out there" he whispered. Mine and El's eyes widened.

Dustin walked in and came straight to us. A few minutes later max and Lucas entered. We begged Keith to let us use the staff lunch room so we could talk in private. After 10 minutes of pleading he finally agreed. We all flooded into the medium sized room. Max and Lucas sat on the table and the rest of us grabbed chairs.

"So what's all this about will?" Dustin asked

He took a deep breath in "I think the shadow monster is alive and taking another body" he said

"Why do you think that?" Max looked at him sceptically

"I think... somehow it's mind is still connected to mine. I don't feel what it's feeling... but I can sometimes just know what it's doing" he explained

"Who do you think it possessed?" I asked

"I don't know. But it's not a local"

I shifted my eyes over to el. She saw me staring and shrugged knowing what my eyes were asking. "It could be kali" she spoke up.

"We're not even sure if she's in Hawkins though" I said

"She is. I'm sure. You can't just see spiders all over you then not" we all stared at her. "It's her" she said confidently

After a bit of silence max spoke up "well what are we going to do about it?"

"El? You know her best. What should we do?" Lucas looked to her

"I don't know" she said quietly.

"We have to figure out what the mind flayer is doing" Dustin said confidently

"How?" Max ruined his confidence. Dustin shrugged.

"What if Will can some how... read it's mind. Figure out what it's planning" I suggested

"I don't know how to control it though. It just happens" Will countered.

"I could try find her" el said "I can find her" she corrected

"Using your powers?" I asked

She nodded "I need a buzzing noise"

"Like this?" Dustin took of his head set and changed the channel so there was a static noise coming from the microphone.

She closed her eyes

"This is so cool" Dustin whispered

"Quiet" el quietly snapped at him

"Sorry" Dustin whispered back

All that could be herd was the static noise

El's POV

When I closed my eyes I almost immediately found myself in the black plains. I walked around focusing on kali. Then I found her. She was standing facing something I could not see. I circled around her as I watched and listened in on her conversation.

"What if she finds us?... but what if she does?... so I kill her"

She was defiantly talking to someone, but that someone I did not know so I couldn't connect to them.

"If I find her first then I kill her and then you can re open this gate" my eyes widened. That is when I knew who she was talking to.

Mike's POV

At some stage the radio has stopped making the static noise and started repeating what el could hear. It was a young girls voice. It sounded like she was having a conversation with herself.

She kept talking about killing someone and revenge, I didn't know who though, until I herd it. I could see blood starting to run down els nose.

"If I kill Jane or at least get my revenge then what will happen to me after. You won't need me if she's gone" my eyes went to el who flinched when she had said 'kill Jane'.

I could feel myself starting to worry, I would not let anyone hurt her. Never.

"You open this gate to this other dimension then what happens?!" The head set yelled. I turned my gaze to Will who looked frightened.

"Where do I go to then?... a pumpkin field?... stop talking why?... who's listening?.."

that's when I realised: the shadow monster knows els listening

Els POV

"Who's listening?" My face twisted with terror. How did it know. How could it possibly know.

Suddenly kali turned straight at me and started at me, blankly. She then said in a deeper voice that was clearly not hers "I know your listening"

I gasped awake to see everyone staring at me. My eyes were widened and I could feel the blood, coming from my nose already starting to dry. I got up out of the chair and run my hands through my hair. A horrified expression still on my face.

"How? How did it know?" I kept asking myself. Mike came up to me "You ok?" He asked

I turned around to see him staring down at me. I pulled him into a hug. Truth was: I'm scared.

"Hey, what happened?" Mike held my shoulders.

"It knew I was there, I-i-i don't know how" I panicked

"Calm down el, it'll be alright. How about we just go back to my place and think about all that tomorrow"

"No. I have to find them. Before they do something" I started to head for the door.

"El, stop!" I froze and looked back at Dustin who had a determined look on his face "mike's right on this el, think it through first. Plan then take action" Dustin said.

I let my shoulders fall as I sighed.

"We should talk it through somewhere else. Just in case someone finds us here" Lucas said cautiously

"But if kali can find my house then she could probably find us and where we're going" Will added

"So we stay here" mike said as he walked over to the door and locked it.

"I think we should tell hopper and My mom" Will started.

"They won't let any of us, except el maybe, near the problem then" mike countered

"Good" I said. They all gave me looks of crinkled eyebrows "I don't want any of you getting hurt" I explained

"Yeah but we don't want you getting hurt" mike argued

"Mike, I can protect myself" I looked at him strongly

"I know you can, but what if something happens. Then none of us are there to help you" he returned the strong look.

I sighed in defeat.

Will's POV

We devised a plan to tell Mom and hopper. Mike, el and myself would talk to them about kali and her plans with the shadow monster. And we'd see where we'd go from there. I checked my watch.

"Shoot, Jonathan'll be here any second. Did you two wanna come back with me and we can talk to my mom and get hopper over?" I asked mike and eleven.

"Yeah" mike agreed. We all left the room and said thanks to Keith then waited outside.

"So I'll go talk to Steve see if he'll help us" Dustin went over his part of the plan

" we'll try think of ways to stop the mind flayer" Lucas continued with his part

"And we'll convince the adults to let us help" mike concluded

a beep from a blue car, it was Jonathan. He wound down his window. "You win your games?" He asked

"Yeah- uh can mike and el come home with us?" I asked

"Yeah, just put your bike in the boot, mike" he said, mike did so and el helped him fit it in the trunk. I sat in the front next to my brother and mike and el sat in the back. I nodded to Lucas and he rode off with max, second later Dustin left in the opposite direction.

Soon we'd be at my house telling mom and hopper about possible terrible events coming our way.


End file.
